Search for new chief could take 3-6 months Acropolis leaning toward picking a captain to replace Dougard BY PATRICIA A. MILLER Staff Writer The next person to head the Brick Township Police Department will be a police chief, not a public safety director, Mayor Stephen C. Acropolis said. "I made a commitment to the police department," he said. "I believe in promoting from within the ranks. We are not going to be bringing in someone from the outside to run that department. The police department is a very well-run organization." Longtime Police Chief Ronald Dougard submitted his resignation papers to the state Department of Personnel on Nov. 30. He has been police chief since 1990. Acropolis estimated it would take between three to six months to name a new chief. "We are going to find out exactly what we need to do to make sure we abide by Civil Service rules," the mayor said. The township does not have a current Civil Service list to pull candidates from, since Dougard decided to leave a year earlier than originally planned, Township Administrator Scott M. Pezarras said. Civil Service allows a municipality to draw from the two top-ranking titles in a police department. In Brick's case, that would be captains and lieutenants, Pezarras said recently. Acropolis said he is leaning toward picking one of the four captains as chief, rather than including lieutenants in the list of candidates. "They are at the top of the leadership chain," he said. "If you are going to look for a chief, you would normally look at the captains. Civil Service may say you have to include lieutenants, I'm not sure. Right now we are still in the mode of celebrating the chief as opposed to looking for his replacement." Acropolis wants to appoint a panel, including retired police officers and Dougard, to help select a new chief. "I believe we have four well-qualified captains," he said. "Any one of those four would make a good police chief." The four captains are Douglas J. Kinney, who heads the patrol division; Nils R. Berquist, who runs the detective bureau; James Riccio, administrative services; and John Rein, head of the community policing unit. Riccio and Rein were promoted to captain this fall to replace officers who had retired. An interim police chief will eventually be appointed before the final decision is made, the mayor said. "I don't think the police department is going to shut down on Dec. 31 because we don't have a chief, Acropolis said. "But rest assured, we will appoint a chief of police, according to Civil Service guidelines and statutes."